After numerous brushes with the law and a year spent partially on the lam, actor Randy Quaid and his wife Evi were arrested this weekend. Well, more accurately: Evi was arrested Saturday for failing to show up for a court appearance (connected to both Quaids skipping out on a hotel room bill) but the police had no active warrant for Quaid until Sunday, when they finally brought him in, too. This is not a good week to be an erratic celebrity. [Radar Online]
The sad, startling death of Brittany Murphy raises many questions about the actress's health and mental state in the months leading up to it. As we mentioned earlier, as recently as last April she was thin, but in seemingly good, fake-Limey spirits on a visit to The Late Late Show. But The Wrap reports that more recently the actress had been fired from The Caller, a horror film shooting in Puerto Rico, and that on another recent shoot -- for an indie thriller called Something Wicked -- Murphy was reportedly unfocused and barely able to complete her takes. The LA County Coroner said "foul play is not suspected," despite the presence of investigators at her home. (No illegal substances were found, but "a lot" of prescription drugs were.) And TMZ reports that in the hours before her death the actress was "very ill ... with flu-like symptoms," and had been vomiting Sunday morning. An autopy is currently underway, notably against the wishes of her husband Simon Monjack. And what of Monjack, the actual-Limey screenwriter credited with writing and producing 2006's Factory Girl, who himself had his own emergency brushes with death? Well, according to Girl director George Hickenlooper, Monjack is a "con man and a bad guy" who embezzled $150k from the film's budget.
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In an unusually transparent move (at least for them), the Coen Brothers have established a Web-based open call in search of their young female lead in True Grit. The new adaptation of Charles Portis's novel shoots next spring and has Jeff Bridges attached to star as Rooster Cogburn, the role that won John Wayne an Oscar in 1969. The 12- to 16-year-old girl they're looking for to play Mattie -- who joins Cogburn and his fellow marshal (Matt Damon) on a quest to find her father's killer (Josh Brolin) -- possesses "steely nerves and [a] straightforward manner [...] We are looking for a girl who is tough, strong and tells it like it is." Weirder still, there are even script sides online. It's a new era for the Coens! And they'll still probably go with Abigail Breslin anyway. [True Grit Casting via Risky Business]
· Kevin Bacon has joined the cast of Super, a currently shooting comic riff on the superhero genre featuring Rainn Wilson as a would-be crusader who takes to swinging a mean wrench when he can't quite conjure superpowers. Bacon will play a drug dealer who steals Wilson's wife (Liv Tyler). Meanwhile, a whole toolbox somewhere is bragging to its friends this morning about its new one degree of separation from Kevin Bacon. [Screen Daily]
A pair of directors consider a turn down Jump Street, the Coens look for their Grit girl, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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Weather. It's the one thing James Cameron couldn't control about Avatar's big opening weekend, and it may have proven costly. Box-office theorists will long debate if and/or how a few feet of snow over the Northeast kept people from the Biggest Movie Ever, but for now, the director and his Fox patrons will have to be content with taking what nature -- and America -- gave them. That number and the weekend's other top finishers follow the jump.
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TMZ is reporting that actress Brittany Murphy died this morning after going into full cardiac arrest. Says the website: "A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack, the Los Angeles City Fire Department tells TMZ. We're told Murphy was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival."
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James Cameron's Avatar stormed the gates yesterday with a healthy $27 million haul, and while that may not be an eye-popping number compared with, say, New Moon's first full day, it's more than decent for December, where only Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and I Am Legend managed better. In fact, Avatar may have sucked all the air out of the room, as Did You Hear About the Morgans tanked, while The Princess and the Frog fell over 50%, a discouraging second weekend in a genre that can typically boast tiny drops. Here are the top ten:
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'Tis the season for giving, and we at Movieline have done our best to uphold our share of the bargain. After the jump, enjoy as we spill another bounty from our bulging velvet sack... Wait -- that came out wrong. Just click through and enjoy another fine Week in Review. And have a terrific weekend!
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· James Cameron finally acknowledged the question we always kept in our hope chest: Why did Rose DeWitt-Bukater jettison the Heart of the Ocean at Titanic's end? Cameron gave his answer on Attack of the Show just before launching into an Avatar plugfest and smashing Druncle Ted with a chair (in pedantic 2D):
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For this week's winners, Movieline will fly you and a guest to beautiful Awash Urban Environment used and reused by Christopher Nolan, where an esteemed photographer will coerce you to rip off your poncho, turn towards the dawn, and brandish a weapon (of your choice!) for the fans. We want hostility and ambition in your barely-glimpsed eyes -- no "smizing," gays! So, who's boarding the next flight to Wetropolis?
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Today, it was announced that Taylor Lautner will make his first stab at non-Twilight stardom with Cancun, an upcoming action vehicle that Lautner's father Dan will produce for Summit. The film isn't set to go into production until this summer, and yet a very mysterious tipster sent us four pages from the tightly guarded script, complete with Dan Lautner's script notes. Since we're nothing if not generous, Movieline has passed those pages on to you. Enjoy!
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In need of a little news to brighten up your Friday? Disney has announced plans to return the Michael Jackson-starring, Francis Ford Coppola-directed short film Captain EO to Disneyland, beginning in February 2010. Can its primitive 3D compete with an audience that will already have experienced Avatar's high water mark? That I can only answer with two high-pitched words: "HEE hee!" [DisneyParks]
Stardom is like any great game of strategy -- it's both a combination of blind luck and a series of carefully calculated decisions. This decade produced several regrettable ones -- here's ten of the worst.
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Another pillar in the reality TV dance competition community has fallen today. Shane Sparks, a judge on MTV's America's Best Dance Crew, was arrested this morning for alleged child molestation. Sparks, who also choreographed So You Think You Can Dance and You Got Served, will have to dance battle 9 charges including a lewd act upon a child that occurred in 1994 -- a serious allegation that could result in a ticket on the The Hot Sex-Offender-Registry Express. [PopEater]
· USA Today has your first look at the Owen Wilson-voiced Marmaduke. Sigh. What pop hit will he perform a mandatory lip-sync to in this movie? Lady Gaga?
· Kick-Ass isn't even out yet, but they've already got a title for the sequel: Balls to the Wall.
· What's the Star Wars weather like right now? Let's just say that if you had a spare Tauntaun around, you might want to slice it open and crawl in.
· "I've moved on creatively from The Terminator," says James Cameron, "so I'm not really interested in that imagery and even those ideas anymore -- and I'm not sure the world is that interested either. It's run its course, I feel."
· It's official: Jon and Kate are legally dunzo. If only that meant that we were finished with them.
